(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) But there is something that I really wanted to preach on for some time Which is found in Matthew 27 look at verse number 52 It says and the graves were open the title for the sermon today is the graves were opened the graves were open We have this very cryptic story here in the Bible We've got literally two verses of a miracle that takes place and we don't get a lot of explanation as to what's happening Let's backtrack a little bit This is of course we're talking about when when Matthew 27 was being read you can see that it's primarily about the the death Of our Lord Jesus Christ being crucified on the cross, but if you look at Matthew 27 verse number 50 It says Jesus when he had cried with a loud voice yielded up the ghost so he passed away Okay his ghost or his spirit left his body and that it says in verse number 51 and behold the veil of the temple was Rent in twain from the top to the bottom and the earth did quake and the rocks rent So as soon as Jesus Christ dies The temple in Jerusalem it had a veil to the holiest of holies This was a place where the high priest would go once a year with a sacrifice and sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat This was a once a year sacrifice that would be done But the only one that would be allowed in through that veil was the high priest Well as soon as Jesus Christ dies the Bible says here that there's this earthquake the earth did quake and even the rocks Rent so even though even rocks just split in half and not only during the other rock splitting But also that veil in the temple split open Okay And and all of a sudden the access which was once a year by the high priest only is made available to all And of course, this is symbolic the veil in the temple is symbolic of Jesus Christ If you can keep your finger there in Matthew 27 and come with me to Hebrews chapter 10 Come with me to Hebrews chapter 10 and verse number 19 Hebrews chapter 10 Hebrews chapter 10 and verse number 19 Hebrews chapter 10 verse number 19 reads Have been therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus Okay, so in the past only one man can enter into the holiest the high priest Well, we've been told here brethren multiple people we can have the boldness to enter into the holiness We've what blood the blood of animals know the blood of Jesus It says by a new and living way which he have consecrated for us Through the veil that veil is the veil in the temple. It says that is to say his flesh So now we understand when he came to the temple in that veil that only the high priest could enter in that veil represented the flesh or the body of Jesus Christ And so as soon as the body of Jesus Christ had suffered for our sins and was was broken for us So too was a veil open to us. So we have immediate access to the holiest Now, of course this holiest is not speaking about the temple The temple has been destroyed in 70 AD the holiest of course is a picture of The of the heavenly realms of where God's throne is and so by the blood of Jesus by his broken body We can enter into the holiest and the shed blood of Jesus Christ speaks for all eternity that we can enter You know through Christ to be with our Lord God forever Now it continues in verse number 21 and having in high priest over the house of God Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith Notice that we do have a high priest but the high priest is Jesus Christ and we can enter with full assurance of what of Faith, okay So how is it that we get access to heaven through the blood the body of Jesus through faith not by our works Not by our merits not by our attempt to live righteous lives All of those things are good things to do But none of that saves you only the body and the blood of Christ and your faith on that which is Christ Allows us into heaven. It's as having our hearts sprinkled with from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure Water again, these are all symbolism of Jesus Christ's body You know when he was pierced in the side out came the blood and the water, you know mixed together Just like in the Old Testament when the Old Testament was put into effect by Moses Moses will take the blood of animals Mix it with water and with herbs and be sprinkled upon the people and that would be symbolic of the blood of Jesus Christ put Upon us for the redemption of our sins, but come back to me with that with me to Matthew 27 Matthew 27 I just want to show you the symbolism there of the veil being torn apart and You know that this earthquake opened the doors of heaven to us all but not only this earthquake Rip apart that veil not only that it caused the rocks to rent it says in verse number 52 and the graves Were open the title for the sermon today and the graves were of what such a massive earthquake Shifts the sand the soil all of a sudden even graves of dead bodies have been opened and This is one of the most sort of you know These this miracle and you know, all we have to go by is what we see here in the screen these next two verses Okay, so what happens but when these graves were open it says here and many bodies of the saints which slept arose Now some people say this is where all the Old Testament saints received the new resurrected bodies But this can't be because immediately says that and many bodies. It's not all of the saints of old that have been risen again It's just many bodies of the saints which slept arose now When did they rise exactly it tells us in verse 153 and came out of the graves after his Resurrection notice that so at his death the graves were opened But the bodies did not come out and then when Christ was resurrected on Sunday morning now the bodies come out of the grave What you got the dead walking well, it says here and went into the holy city and Appeared unto many and that's all we have about this story go. What are these people right? Well, we know who they are. It says they're the bodies of the Saints So these are people that are saved These are people that have put their faith and trust on the Lord Jesus Christ and many of them Actually at the resurrection like the resurrection of Christ was so powerful So powerful, not only did Christ rise from the dead but the bodies of those Rose from the dead. Okay, and they walked into the holy city being Jerusalem and appeared unto many Okay now Well, let's keep going over some 54 and when the centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus saw the earthquake and those things that were done They feared greatly saying truly This was the Son of God and so I went to notice that all this earthquake and all these things that happened You know, the Romans in tune was able to say, you know what? Yeah This is the Son of God this this whole time like this is the one that you know The Jews have been waiting for this is the Messiah the Son of God, you know It was such a testimony for him to see how Christ would die But not only a testimony for him but at the resurrection of Jesus, you know And you say which Saints rose from the dead, you know, I'll give you my thoughts obviously the Bible This is all we have. Okay, I'm gonna give you my thoughts The fact that they had a mission when they rose from the dead they walk into the city They walk in Jerusalem and they appear unto many All right. This tells me that their appearance was significant So for example, you might have a knock on the door if you live in Jerusalem in those days And you know, I don't know someone opens the door and mom's like who's at the door. Oh, well, it's it's uncle It's uncle Robert who passed away last year like he's at the door It's like what what's going on? Right? And what do you think gonna testify if he's one of the Saints what he's gonna say No, I've come back to life, you know, and obviously they're gonna be points and people to Jesus's resurrection Wouldn't that be common sense? Oh, you know, I don't think I'm adding anything that wouldn't be common sense here Okay, you know, I don't necessarily believe that it was you know Samson or give me some names King David or Abraham that rose from the dead because in that day They wouldn't know who these people were like, you know If someone turned up and it's like I'm Samson like I don't know we talking about it Like what Samson something from the Bible like you're crazy It's probably somebody people that they know Maybe people that have passed away during the ministry of Jesus Christ During those three years people that have trusted Christ over the years that have passed away Obviously, it's got to be significant where they come into people's life and they appear to many so wait a minute We just buried you six months ago. Wait a minute. We just buried you five years ago three years ago, whatever it was okay, so it's got to be something significant to those people that they're appearing to and I believe these are people that passed away in Recent times but I just want to show you the the power of the resurrection of Christ To even rise people from the dead now Obviously these people did not have the new resurrected bodies that we're all going to receive Okay, that's going to take place at the Rapture You can spend your own time reading through 1st Corinthians 15 The Bible says that Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection then those at his coming Okay, so the the resurrection will take place at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ but these read this resurrection will be similar to say What is Lazarus that's right Lazarus right now similar to Lazarus where Lazarus was dead for for a while and then Christ comes and rises in from the dead and That testimony spoke to so many people so many people believed on Jesus when they knew that Lazarus was dead and now is alive How is he alive? We've seen him buried. We've seen his dead body and now he's alive and the testimony of Lazarus was so great I don't know if you know it's in the Bible, but the Jews sought to kill him again It's like we can't have him walking around alive. Let's find a way to kill Lazarus Well, if that if they had a problem Lazarus, can you imagine all these other people now just rising on the dead What where'd you come from right, obviously these people would have been risen in then in their natural bodies that they had before and Then they would obviously have to pass away at some other time in the future. Okay? But you know even though you know, this is all we have. This is all we have on that story It's such a great story that I want to know more about it My god, you know when I get to heaven I'll be like, okay God Can you give us the rest of the story like of these people that rose from the dead? And even though you know, I don't know all the details all the ins and outs and we you know We're relying on speculation a little bit. I do understand what it represents though. Okay, I fully understand what this represents now Obviously as they appeared unto many what could they do? They could testify of Christ Just their own life the fact that they're alive Would testify hold on there's life in Jesus Christ Okay, there's life in Jesus Christ But I want to also notice in verse number 52 and the graves were opened and many of the bodies of the Saints So as these dead bodies are in the graves, I'm asking you a question. Are they Saints? Are they saved? They're saved but they're dead bodies aren't they? They're dead bodies But then the miracle happens and they rise from the dead are they Saints when they rise from the dead? They're Saints. They're still Saints, right? It's everlasting life the moment you trust on Christ It's everlasting life. They're still Saints But obviously when they're dead in the grave, can they testify of Christ? But when they pee unto many, can they testify of Christ? Of course Okay, and their own life testimony can be something where people can look at go Wow, you're a believer in Christ and you've been given this miracle to rise from the dead Think of the impact that would have on the city of Jerusalem Now come with me to John chapter 19, please. John chapter 19 verse number 31 John chapter 19 John chapter 19 verse number 31 So we know that Christ was crucified on the cross and You know doing doing some reading on this and historically when when the Romans would crucify somebody they could be on that cross They could be crucified for several days You know, just just languishing in pain But because the Passover was the next day they wanted the Jews wanted the bodies removed off the cross It says in John 1931 the Jews therefore because it was the preparation They were preparing for the Passover that day that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day For the Sabbath day was a high day or like we would say a holiday Be sought Pilate that their legs might be broken that they might be taken away So Pilate says okay the Jews once their bodies removed They want to be able to celebrate the Passover about these dead bodies Just you know being a this public testimony and so they decide to break everyone's legs And of course by breaking their legs then they can't lift themselves up and breathe and they'll die quickly from suffocation All right And then verse number 32 then came the soldiers and break the legs of the first and of the other Which was crucified with him, but when they came to Jesus they saw that he was dead already they break not his legs but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith came there out blood and Water so you can see that Christ's legs were not broken in this situation come with me to Deuteronomy 21 I just give you some thoughts about a dead body hanging upon a tree there in Deuteronomy 21 verse number 22 Deuteronomy 21 22 The Lord God gives instructions that if someone is hung upon a tree What they have to do with that body in Deuteronomy 21 22 Deuteronomy 21 22 The Bible says and if a man have committed a sin Worthy of death and he be to be put to death and our hang him on a tree His body look at this his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise Sorry, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day For he that is hanged is a cursed of God That they land sorry that thy land be not defiled which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance I just read that to you just so you can see when a body is Cursored it's hung upon a tree. It can't stay there all night This is an instruction that God says you've got to take that body down Okay, and bury it that same day, which is what they do with Jesus Christ Can you come in and we've been out to numbers numbers chapter 9 numbers chapter 9 Numbers chapter 9 you might be familiar with the laws in the Old Testament that if someone were to touch a dead body They were to be unclean for seven days they were not allowed to be in the congregation Okay, they were to whips. We are you know stand away for seven days of course It's one way that God would ensure that diseases would not be transmitted one to another But we have the the body of Christ and of course people are going to remove that body and they're going to bury that Body, you know does that mean they've got to remain unclean for seven days when they want to celebrate the Passover I mean those are some thoughts that you might have This is all kind of just just some information For your sake but numbers chapter 9, please numbers chapter 9 in verse number 6 Numbers chapter 9 verse number 6 Here we have the events of the Passover in the past and it says in verse number 6 And there were certain men who were defiled By the dead body of a man that they could not keep the Passover on that day And they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day So you got certain Jews coming they want to be but they want to partake of the Passover But they've had to deal with a dead body, you know Maybe uncle Frank passed away and they had to take his body and bury it but they're like man We really want to celebrate the Passover because that's such an important event on the calendar of God and this is in verse Number seven and those men said unto him we are defiled by the dead body of a man Wherefore are we kept back that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in his appointed season among the children of Israel and Moses said unto them stand still and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you and The Lord spake unto Moses saying I love that about Moses by the way, you know that they've got a bit He's got a bit of a challenging question You know, we're commanded to celebrate the Passover but at the same time you touch a dead body You're meant to remain unclean for seven days What do I do? I'll just come up with my thoughts and I goes let me ask God Okay, and sometimes if someone asked me a question from the Bible you like pastor what I do I might not have an answer straight away. I'll be like well, hold on. Hold on Let me just ask God let me open my Bible and see what God has to say before I come to you But that's the wise thing to do. You know, some people just like Like just and I always have the answer now. Sometimes you gotta stop and let me check the Bible let me make sure what God says about this situation and And verse number nine says and the Lord spake unto Moses saying speak unto the children of Israel saying if any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body or be in a journey afar off Yet he shall keep the Passover unto the Lord So God says all right. No, no, okay, even if you touch the dead body, even if you're far away Okay, and you can't make it to Jerusalem or something like that, right? Well, I still want you to keep the Passover of the Lord The 14th day of the second month at even they shall keep it and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs They shall leave none of it until the morning. Look and I love this nor break any bone of it According to all the ordinances of the Passover. They shall keep it Isn't that interesting that the Passover lamb was to have no broken bones. And of course Jesus Christ who died He had passed away even when they intended to break his laser like what's the point there's no point doing this He's already passed away It just shows us how Jesus Christ was fulfilling scripture even to the most minor detail seemingly minor details They read about you like you might read, you know numbers there and would you know go what's the point of breaking the bones? You know, you might be like, you know when I eat chicken or whatever We don't care if we break the bone and like what's the significance of that? And yet it shows us that the Bible over and over and over again is pointing us to Jesus Christ Come with me now to Ephesians chapter 2, come with me to Ephesians chapter 2 All of this so far is a bit of an introduction. Okay, we're just talking about the significance of the death of Christ You know that his body was taken and even those that took his body and buried his body They were still celebrating the Passover. And of course Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of that Passover lamb And While you're turning to Ephesians chapter 2, I'm going to read to you again from Matthew 27 52 and the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out of the graves after his resurrection and went into the holy city and Appeared unto many I believe I know what this story represents Okay, that which is dead, of course is now made alive and it's made alive in Jesus Christ But whether the body is dead or alive, I want to make it very clear that they are saints of God They are already saved. Nothing's ever going to change that situation So when we take the application, I want to think about that and not Misunderstand what I'm preaching this morning in Ephesians chapter 2 verse number 1 It says and you you brethren that's you hath he quickened The word quickened means to make alive You know what? You've been made alive You go. What does that mean pastor? I've been born. I've never died. I'm still alive. I mean, what do you mean? Of course, you know the fact that I see you face to face I know you're not you you weren't dead and now you're made alive, but spiritually we were dead You know, we've sinned against the Lord and our sin is held in accounts and judgment against us the fact that you know We deserve eternal judgment. We deserve eternal hellfire for our offense and sins against the Lord God Spiritually, we've died But when the Bible says and you have he quickened he's given you life We're talking about the moment you trusted Christ as your Savior You've not trusted in your church. You've not trusted in pastor Kevin. You've not trusted in your parents You've not trusted in your your what else people trust in, you know your idols No, you decide I'm gonna put my faith and trust on Jesus's death resurrection Alone his payment his blood the Bible says you've been made alive who said then it says this who were dead in trespasses and Sins we were dead in trespasses and sins Look at verse number two. We're in in time past you walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air, that's the devil the spirit that now worketh in the children of Disobedience the Bible says that before we were quickened before we were made alive that we walked we had no choice We walked in the ways of the world we walked according to the devil's ways We walked according to the lust and sins of our flesh This one free among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature the children of wrath even as others You know, we ought to thank God not only for salvation, but that we're no longer Spiritually dead that we're no longer needing to walk in the same ways that the world walks Looking for some fool, but God but God It's always but God only You know, we're dead in our sins before we were saved but God Okay, who is rich in? Mercy God his mercy for his great love Where we've he loved us Reverend this is just that verse alone to tell you everything about salvation God only Mercy love I can be saved because of him. All right verse number five even when we were dead in sins It doesn't say okay. They're trying to do good They're trying to be good people They're trying to keep the Ten Commandments Therefore I'm going to offer them salvation Even when we were dead in sins have quickened us together with Christ By grace ye are saved Look at verse number six and have raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus Do you notice that we have the story of those saints that have risen from the dead physically you go. Well, that's amazing Yeah, yeah, but you've also been raised from the dead. Do you say that? Verse number six and have raised us up together and made us sit together Now this blows my mind Made us past tense sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, you know as far as God is concerned We're already seated in heaven in Christ Jesus Christ Jesus who's sitting at the right hand of the Father because we're in Christ Jesus as far as God is concerned We're all sitting up in heaven already. Like it's a done deal. It's like what if I mess up you're already in heaven according to God It's it's settled. Okay, because if you're in Christ Jesus, nothing will ever change But the first point that I have for you brethren which we're talking about being raised from the dead We see here in this verse Ephesians 2 That we've been raised together and we've been given the power to overcome the past Sins and the past lusts that we've had in the flesh See before you were saved you have no power to overcome sins in your life You can try to reform yourself and you know go to Alcoholics Anonymous or something like that and try to get off certain things But at the end of the day, you know, your body will continue to find new lusts to find new sins You know, we'll give in to the world. We'll give in to the ways of the devil, you know before you're saved You don't know any better. You're just you're just you you know, your standard of goodness is not God Your standard of goodness is well, I'm not a murderer I'm good. I'm not a rapist or something like that. But truly when you understand the word, you know God the center of goodness is perfection. It's Jesus Christ. It's our Lord God Almighty But we've been given the power now that we've been resurrected we've been given the power to overcome past lusts and sins Does that mean we'll never sin against part? No, you're gonna sin to the day you die Because even though this body Spiritually is dead. We still function. It's still got weaknesses. It's still got problems It's still got issues that we deal with, you know but what I'm trying to say is this even though we accept that we have a new Resurrection within us being born again, even though we accept that we also must accept that right now in this time frame We are still functioning with weak bodies. Okay, but that's not an excuse to sin Like when you go in sinning you give in to the lusts of your flesh. Oh, I'm just weak God I'm just weak, you know, I'm still you know, that's fine. I'm you're fine No, no, no, no, because God's giving you all of the power to rise from the dead Spiritually speaking you've got the new man living within you Okay This is why the Bible tells us not to walk according to the flesh but to walk in the spirits And when you're walking in the new man when you're walking in the spirit, you're going to have power to tell your flesh No, you're not going to give in to that temptation. No, you're not going to disobey God We're gonna do things God's way. Even if it's the hard way we're gonna do exactly what God wants you have that power You have that ability to fix up your life to be holy to be clean Point number one the power to overcome pasts lusts and sins is Representative of those Saints that were dead and made alive Come with me to Colossians, no, I'm sorry first John first John to the free first John to the free verse number 14 first John to the free verse number 14 You see when those dead Saints rose from the dead They made a conscious decision. We're going to appear unto many We're going to tell people about the wonderful resurrection of Jesus Christ Or they could make the decision. Well, I got another chance of life. Let's go and commit as many sins as we want I mean, I don't think that'd be reasonable knowing the full world that they came from heaven They've been in the glory of the Father and now they're going back to the earth to just commit all kinds of wickedness No, they chose we're gonna pee on too many We're gonna testify of the resurrection of Jesus Christ First John to the free verse number 14. What else does the resurrection give us a spiritual resurrection that we've all received It says in first John to the free verse on 14 We know that we have passed from death unto life Because we love the Brethren here that loveth not his brother abideth in death The next point that I have for you Brethren is the fact that we've been revived in the Spirit gives us the ability to love and to serve the Brethren Well, I can say with an honest heart that I love you, you know, every man woman child in this church I love you, you know, if you're in Christ Jesus, you've been saved the same way that I have I'm no better than you. I was a sinner destined to hell just like the rest of us Okay, but because of the blood of Jesus, you know, what makes family our blood Okay, and what makes us a family is the blood of Jesus a spiritual family that we have here at New Life Baptist Church You see we have the ability to love our brethren, you know going back. I don't know Two years ago some of you guys I've never heard of before. I don't know who you are Go back five years ago even less Going back ten years ago. No idea who some of you guys even would never would be like you're just complete strangers But today in 2024, I can say I love you. I want to serve you as your pastor I want to preach a good sermon that will feed you that will nourish you that will point to Jesus Christ. Why? Because I've been passed from death unto life. I Have the ability to love total strangers if you're in Christ Jesus Because you're my brother and sister in the Lord where family is what we are How wonderful wisdom 15 whosoever hate of his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer have eternal life abiding in him He by perceive we the love of God Because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren Again, I'm not saying that we ought to die literally die. We can't die for each other Jesus died for us because he could die for us. He could pay for our sins But of course the laying down our life is saying you know what I'm gonna go without So I can serve my brother system Lord, you know, my brother has a need. You know what? I wanted to spend my day Watching soccer. What do I do? Yeah, I want to spend my day watching soccer But my brother's in need I'm gonna come alongside them and help them That's laying down your life instead of pursuing what you always will you say what is it that my brother needs? Verse 17 But whoso have the world's good and see if his brother have need there it is and shut off up his bowels of compassion from him How dwell of the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word neither in tongue, but indeed and in truth Look, it's okay to love in word. But if I just say I love you love you love you, but never show it All right. I never try to serve you. I never try to help you You know, I never pray for you then I'm not really showing love we'll show love indeed and in truth To the resurrection that we've received, you know The spiritual resurrection that received gives us the ability to love and to serve people that were complete strangers not even that long ago Come with me to Colossians chapter 2 Colossians chapter 2 and verse number 12 Colossians chapter 2 and verse number 12 Colossians chapter 2 verse number 12 The Bible says buried with him in baptism Right Christ was buried and when we got baptized we will symbolize him that we're buried with Christ Jesus It says here wherein also ye are risen with him Through the faith of the operation of God who have raised him from the dead So those saints that amazing miracle been raised from the dead with Christ Jesus. Yeah, but so were you and I Okay, they're just an earthly physical representation of the resurrection that we've received with Christ Jesus verse number 13 Not only brethren that we get heaven and that's wonderful But how wonderful is it knowing that you've been forgiven of all trespasses all sins Have you ever had a conflict with somebody that just There just seems to be no resolution Maybe you've even tried to make peace and that would have nothing Or maybe they've tried to make peace and you just go to full bitterness and you feel like it can never happen Think about the the you know the the regrets maybe The burden the guilt the bitterness sometimes that you carry You know because of some conflict some issues someone's done you wrong and you feel like you know, it's not been justified You're not getting your way. Maybe you even feel like God's not stepping in and answering the issue in the time that you thought was adequate But what about all of our sin because every time we sin not only that we have we sinned against one another Or against the world but every time we sin we've committed an offense against God The Bible says that sin is the transgression of the law the laws of God You know whatever God has laid out in his word I know I've sinned I know I've sinned plenty in my life And knowing that I've offended God over and over and over and over and over and over And even when I try to live a good life even when I try to do what is right like the Apostle Paul Sometimes we find ourselves doing what is evil doing what is wrong and we've we've let down the Lord God again And that burden though doesn't need to be upon us because we received forgiveness He has forgiven you all trespasses all trespasses Those are the trespasses or the sins of committing the past The trespasses that we may very well commit today The trespasses that are still going to be committed in the future because we're not perfect We still mess up we still make mistakes Knowing that in Christ Jesus we received forgiveness for all of our sins Isn't that like this burden that was on you just gone Taken care of not only does God forgive he says he forgets Not like you and I we can forgive but it's hard for us to forget what people have done for us We ought to forget once we forgive someone we ought to forget but God promises us in his word A God who cannot lie that not only does he forgive he forgets He puts it behind him he never brings up your sins ever again Look at verse 114 All those ordinances or laws of God in a way they're against us Cause you know if we tell a lie then we've committed thou shalt not bear false witness right If we covet it from something thou shalt not covet You know every time the law of God is just condemning us as sinners Well God says that he's taken that and he's nailed that to the cross Verse 115 And having spoiled principalities and powers he made a show of them openly triumphant over them in it Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of a holy day or of the new moon or the Sabbath days All of these things that were done in the Old Testament says in verse 117 Which are a shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ You know we're not under all of these Old Testament laws as far as the holidays, the food restrictions Because all of that was a representation of the body of Christ Just like we saw the veil of the temple That veil represented we can't access the holiest only the high priest can But when Christ became the high priest after the order of Melchizedek He opened that veil that veil represented his flesh His broken body, his blood being the blood on the mercy seat of Christ And that gives us access to heaven All of that procedure has been done away with We don't need to go to some man, we don't need to go to some priest To give us access to forgiveness or anything like that We have Jesus Christ the mediator between God and man The third point that I have for you Brevin about our resurrection Is that we have forgiveness of all trespasses And I feel good about that It gives me a lot of joy Because I know even when I mess up today or tomorrow That I can always go before my God and say Lord I'm sorry Lord forgive me And again he's forgiven me positionally it's all done It's all been taken care of But you know the other part of our life is our walk, our spiritual walk How well are we walking? Think about those dead bodies in the grave When the graves were opened Could they walk in their bodies? No they're dead But positionally the Bible says they were saints Then they were made alive Now they could walk And go to Jerusalem And appear unto many You know what the moment you got saved Positionally nothing will ever change You're a saint of God But then what does God want us to do? He wants us to live with the resurrection that we received spiritually He wants us to go for a walk He wants us to go to the Jerusalem Whatever the Jerusalem is the sunny coast for us And he wants us to appear unto many And tell them and testify of the resurrection of Jesus Christ That's if you want to live according to the resurrection that Christ has given you Or you can remain dead You're still a saint Salvation's not your walk Salvation's not your effort You're the work of Jesus Christ You know sometimes some Christians are going to be like that Most Christians I think are like that I'll just stay dead But I'm saved Praise God that you're saved But you know what God wants from us? He's given us the ability to have victory over our sins He's given us the ability to walk after his ways He's given us the ability to go and testify of the resurrection of Jesus Christ Are you going to do it? It's resurrection Sunday You say what pastor? I've never testified of Jesus I've never told anybody All right resurrection Sunday Let's press the reset button today Boom resurrection You know from this day forward I'm going to testify of Jesus Christ Why not? You know let's stop sleeping in the grave And get busy working for God Not to be saved because the dead bodies were already saints But to go and glorify God To speak of the wonderful salvation that you have received We should go tell others We can tell others We've got forgiveness of sins We can tell others You know how Christ has done a work in us He's given us new life In fact come with me to Romans 6 Let's talk about new life The name for our church New life Baptist Church I don't want to call ourselves dead and buried Baptist Church Who wants that name for church? Life sounds good Wow I've been given new life by Jesus Christ In Romans 6 verse 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father Even so we also should walk in newness of life Look we should do this Say pastor I just want to say dead and buried Okay you're going to heaven You've trusted Christ But you've been created for so much more You've been given life for so much more Than to just stay in your old ways I know you battle with the flesh so do I It's a constant battle Every day every day the flesh wakes up And goes I'm still alive I'm like stay dead and buried can you? But the flesh comes up and wants to cause havoc in my life You too Verse number 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death We shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him That the body of sin might be destroyed And henceforth we should not This is something we should not do We should not serve sin For he that is dead is free from sin Now if we be dead with Christ Look at this We believe that we shall also live with him That's important Not only has God given you new life But that new life we're living with Jesus Jesus Wherever we go in life we're taking Jesus along with us He says he'll never leave us nor forsake us He says he'll come with us unto the uttermost part of the earth Wherever we go as believers Christ is coming along with us Now think about where you do go Are you really comfortable taking Jesus Christ there with you? Every single place that you go? We're meant to be living with Jesus Jesus needs to be at New Life Baptist Church tonight This morning Jesus needs to be, when I go home with my family Jesus needs to be there When you go to work It doesn't matter whose house you're working at or what company you're working for Jesus needs to be there with you Jesus will never leave your side And he wants to help you Okay? It's not like he left us alone There's your new life, there you go, do your best Jesus says I'm coming along with you Anytime we fail we can turn to Jesus Jesus help me Guide me, direct me, lead me, give me your wisdom Look at verse number 9 Knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more Death hath no more dominion over him For in that he died, he died unto sin once But in that he liveth, he liveth unto God So Jesus is living essentially for God Verse number 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin But alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord Look the resurrection that we've been given spiritually Number 4 Is to live for God It's to live with Jesus And to live for God Can you say that about yourself today? Pastor I've been living for God I don't ask You guys know I know too I can't say I've always been living for God Like I said we have this battle within us The dead body, the resurrected spirit, the new life that God has given us And you've got to make a decision Do I live for self or do I live for God? And look I'm thankful this morning It's a long weekend You said you know what Sunday morning I'm going to church You could have said Sunday morning I'm going Well it's not it's raining isn't it? Pretend we had a nice sunny day You could have said Sunday morning we're going to the beach I can live for self or I can live for God You know I'm glad that this morning you decided I'm going to live for God I'm going to go to the place that Jesus Christ wants me to be at You know in his house amongst God's people Think about these people that rose from the dead in the graves You know and then when you understand this sermon Then you'll understand like James chapter 2 a lot more For example James chapter 2 verse number 26 says For as the body without the spirit is dead Will that make sense? A body without the spirit it's dead Like those bodies in the grave they're dead But then it says so faith without works is dead also Faith without works is dead also Now again those dead bodies in the grave They weren't doing any work were they? Those bodies were just there in the grave They weren't doing the works But did they have the faith? They're saints They're saved They're saints To rise from the dead And to do some work And if all they do We don't know exactly exactly what they did right in the Bible But they appeared unto many Their appearance alone testified of the resurrection of Jesus Are you able to do that? Are you able to go to people And tell them about the wonderful salvation Offered to us in Christ Jesus His death, his burial, his resurrection You can stay dead Okay? But faith without works God wants us to add some works To our faith If you don't add works You still have faith You're still saved You're just going to be a dead body Profitable for not much Except of course the service that's going to come in eternity But God doesn't want us to remain dead He's given us the new life He's given us the spirit He says you know what I've given you the ability to work I've given you the ability to love I've given you the ability to serve I've given you the ability to testify Of what Christ has done That's what new life represents That's what the resurrection represents That's what these Old Testament saints were able to do When they rose from their graves So brethren the title of the sermon was The Graves Were Opened Are you still in your grave today? Are you in the old man right now Which is meant to be crucified with Christ Jesus Are you still in your grave today? Are you in the old man right now Which is meant to be crucified with Christ Jesus You know let me encourage you to walk in newness of life This is new life Baptist Church Okay I don't want to deal with your old man I deal with my old man all the time Let's crucify that old man Hey old man you're done for You're finished I don't want to walk according to your ways and your lust and your selfishness I want to walk in the new life that God has given me In conclusion those four points The power to overcome past lust and sins Number two the ability to love To serve the brethren Number three the wonderful The forgiveness of all our trespasses That wonderful feeling That we wouldn't have to feel guilty before God Knowing that it's all been paid for in Jesus Christ And number four the last one Was to live for God Let's live for God today Let's live for God this week Let's live for God for the rest of our lives Let's pray